Matthew 21:23–46

The Question about Jesus’ Authority

²³Jesus came back to the Temple; and as he taught, the chief priests and the elders came to him and asked, “What right have you to do these things? Who gave you this right?”

²⁴Jesus answered them, “I will ask you just one question, and if you give me an answer, I will tell you what right I have to do these things. ²⁵Where did John’s right to baptize come from: was it from God or from human beings?”

They started to argue among themselves, “What shall we say? If we answer, ‘From God,’ he will say to us, ‘Why, then, did you not believe John?’ ²⁶But if we say, ‘From human beings,’ we are afraid of what the people might do, because they are all convinced that John was a prophet.” ²⁷So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things.

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸“Now, what do you think? There was once a man who had two sons. He went to the elder one and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ ²⁹‘I don’t want to,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. ³⁰Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. ‘Yes, sir,’ he answered, but he did not go. ³¹Which one of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The elder one,” they answered.

So Jesus said to them, “I tell you: the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the Kingdom of God ahead of you. ^32*For John the Baptist came to you showing you the right path to take, and you would not believe him; but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. Even when you saw this, you did not later change your minds and believe him.

The Parable of the Tenants in the Vineyard

^33*“Listen to another parable,” Jesus said. “There was once a landowner who planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a hole for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he let out the vineyard to tenants and went on a journey. ³⁴When the time came to gather the grapes, he sent his slaves to the tenants to receive his share of the harvest. ³⁵The tenants seized his slaves, beat one, killed another, and stoned another. ³⁶Again the man sent other slaves, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷Last of all he sent his son to them. ‘Surely they will respect my son,’ he said. ³⁸But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the owner’s son. Come on, let’s kill him, and we will get his property!’ ³⁹So they seized him, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

⁴⁰“Now, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” Jesus asked.

⁴¹“He will certainly kill those evil men,” they answered, “and let the vineyard out to other tenants, who will give him his share of the harvest at the right time.”

^42*Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what the Scriptures say?

‘The stone which the builders rejected as worthless

turned out to be the most important of all.

This was done by the Lord;

what a wonderful sight it is!’

⁴³“And so I tell you,” added Jesus, “the Kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce the proper fruits.”^u

⁴⁵The chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables and knew that he was talking about them, ⁴⁶so they tried to arrest him. But they were afraid of the crowds, who considered Jesus to be a prophet.